Siege of Dunkirk (1944)

The Siege of Dunkirk (15 September 1944-8 May 1945) occurred when the 2nd Canadian Division and the 1st Czechoslovak Armored Brigade were sent to capture the heavily fortified city and port of Dunkirk in northern France from its German occupiers. The German garrison of 12,000 troops withstood initial probing attacks and managed to hold onto the city for months; as 21st Army Group commander Bernard Montgomery turned his attention to capturing the vital Belgian port of Antwerp, the Allied Powers decided to contain the Dunkirk garrison rather than assault it. The port of Dunkirk remained in German hands until the end of the war, when Admiral Friedrich Frisius surrendered the fortress to Czechoslovak Brigadier-General Alois Liska. Substantial food and ammunition reserves remained in the city, meaning that the Germans could have held onto Dunkirk for months, had the German government not surrendered.